The Riverhead Project temporarily closes its doors

The Riverhead Project has temporarily closed its doors after hitting a legal snag that inadvertently rendered its tax ID number and liquor license invalid, according to the restaurant’s owner.

Dennis McDermott, owner of the downtown Riverhead eatery, said on Saturday that he created a new corporation to run the establishment after recently taking on a partner. That also means he will need to obtain a new state liquor license and federal tax ID number from the Internal Revenue Service, a process he estimated will take about two weeks to complete.

Mr. McDermott, who was alerted to the problem by his attorneys, chose to shut down the restaurant Saturday evening.

The Riverhead Project’s previous liquor license would have been valid until May 2015, according to state records.

“The solution is to get a new tax ID number and liquor license,” Mr. McDermott said. “When we were ignorant of the situation, we didn’t care. But now we know and we have to fix it.”

Mr. McDermott, who declined to identify the new partner, said he will kick off the restaurant’s reopening with a party when the new liquor license is in place.